Alcohol (ethanol or ethyl alcohol) is a product of the fermentative process and constitutes the active pharmacologic ingredient of beverages such as beer, wine and distilled spirits. The alcohol-containing beverages are widely used in most of the world's societies for their euphoric properties, to enhance the enjoyment of meals, and as social lubricants. Their use has been ingrained, particularly in Western societies, since pre-historic times, and the effects of alcohol, both positive and pathologic, have been recorded in the history and literature of every society and of every age. However, only during the last two to three decades has science taken up the challenge of trying to understand the mechanisms by which alcohol produces both its pleasurable as well as its damaging effects.
In particular, alcohol, through its metabolite, acetaldehyde, interferes in the body with the maintenance of proper circulating levels of pyridoxal phosphate, the active form of Vitamin B6 and essential for the conversion of methionine to cysteine. Cysteine, in turn, is important for the protection of the body from damage due to peroxides, free radicals and the aldehydes produced from ethanol or derived from other sources.
The present invention provides a composition and method of treatment that are effective in reducing blood acetaldehyde levels resulting from alcohol ingestion and the subsequent metabolism of ethanol.